After suffering defeat in only two of their previous 11 LaLiga matches, Celta flew out of the traps at the Estadio de Balaidos as visiting goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski had to be on his toes to prevent Gabri Veiga’s effort from sneaking in at his near post.
In pursuit of making their first appearance upon European shores in over two decades, Rayo had their first sight of goal in the 11th minute as Florian Lejeune unleashed a fearsome freekick only fractions over the crossbar.
Attempting to produce a more perfected version of his audacious long-range strike, Lejeune was at it again just after the half-hour mark as the defender, this time around, forced an instinctive low save from Ivan Villar.
Beginning round 25 only three points above the bottom three, despite sitting in 12th position, Celta found themselves two goals to the good in the space of a shell-shocking 60 seconds for their beleaguered visitors.
With only six minutes gone in the second half, Carvalhal's side were ahead as top scorer Iago Aspas sublimely slotted Javi Galan’s pin-point cross into the far corner.
Incredibly, Los Celestes increased their advantage immediately from the resulting kick-off, courtesy of a lending hand from VAR.
After adjudging Carles Perez to have strayed marginally offside in the build-up, the footballing gods intervened to recommend referee Juan Pulido to overturn his on-field decision, as the winger appeared to be onside before Pathe Ciss had inadvertently sent the ball beyond his own goalkeeper.
An action-packed introduction to the second 45 minutes was not over there, as Rayo striker Raul de Tomas agonisingly witnessed his strike cannon back off the woodwork.
Celta wrapped up their victory in exquisite style five minutes from time, as Aspas lofted the ball over the onrushing Dimitrievski for his second of the evening after the Vallecano number one had been left in no-man's land by one of his defenders.
Victory for Carvalhal’s side registered only their fifth LaLiga success at the Estadio de Vallecas across the current campaign. Meanwhile, Rayo suffered another blow in their aspirations of finishing in the top six after failing to register a win in their last five league matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo)
